How to cover the survivors of firearm violence 

At the beginning of this year, mass shooting incident One person was killed and several others were injured after disrupting the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration. In the multi-part KCUR series, “injured personIn “, two reporters investigate what happens to the children and adults who survive mass shootings and live with the physical and emotional burdens that will likely last the rest of their lives.

in Latest part of the seriesIn an article published Oct. 17, survivors of the mass shooting said they feel gun violence is inevitable in Kansas City.

Another story in the series chronicles one family’s experience during and after the shooting. Another focus is the ethics of leaving bullets in survivors’ bodies. Check out the entire series here.

The following Q&A is from two reporters in this series: Bram Sable Smith, Midwest correspondent for KFF Health News, and Peggy Rowe, an investigative reporter specializing in public safety at KCUR.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did this series come about?

sable smith:Actually, the first idea came from my editor.

I’m a Chiefs fan and was following the parade when the shooting happened. I was horrified, but since I live on the other side of the state in St. Louis and work in a newsroom that covers health policy, I didn’t necessarily expect to participate in reporting on the incident.

But a few days after the shooting, my editor asked me if I would be interested in contacting some of the survivors and tracking their recovery. A few hours later, I was on a plane to Kansas City.

row: I believe KFF Health News approached us early on, a few days after the February 14th shooting.

How did the collaboration work between you two and the newsroom?

row: I have participated in many collaborations, both within public media and with external media groups. So, the important thing is that both sides have something like a contract, and I think we have an MOU. That’s the boss’s job. That’s a high-level overview of publishing, sharing content, and more.

As far as the story goes, we had a Zoom meeting with the folks at KFF and my editors Barb Shelley and Madeline Fox. Barb, Madeline, and I were reporting this news as breaking news. I was at the first press conference held by the police chief in the first hours after the Valentine’s Day shooting. So in our early meetings, we discussed what we were looking at, who we should focus on, and what themes were emerging. Blum already had a Google spreadsheet with victims’ names and contact information. That was our blueprint.

sable smith: After my first trip to Kansas City, I decided I needed a local partner since I live in St. Louis. My background is in public radio, and this type of intimate storytelling is perfect for this medium. And Kansas City just so happens to have one of the best public radio stations in the country. I immediately thought of Peggy.

I have known her for years and she has the perfect blend of investigative skills, expertise in Kansas City’s criminal justice system, and is extremely adept at interviewing and maintaining relationships with people who are not public figures. I’m good at it. Similarly, KCUR has a reputation for working very well with other newsrooms and taking on ambitious projects. It was a simple approach.

Can you explain why reporters should talk to shooting survivors more often and tell their stories?

row: I’ve always wanted to do a series like this. As our article points out, Kansas City has an extremely high rate of gun violence, one of the worst in the nation, just behind St. Louis, on the other side of Missouri. I cover justice and public safety, so I often talk to the families and friends of shooting victims, and I know all too well the innate hell that follows. As you say, the number of people who die in mass shootings is the focus, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

I was at Columbine many years ago reporting for the Denver Post, and over the years I’ve thought a lot about the injured children I met there. The students who were in the library that day were dealing with the emotional fallout of surviving. Children who have suffered severe physical injuries that will literally carry the scars for the rest of their lives. how were they doing? What should we know about them? What happens when the media moves? If we live in this violent society, and obviously we do, we We need to know what victims and survivors went through.

sable smith: Even though more people are injured than killed by gun violence each year, survivors are often overshadowed in coverage. Many survivors feel the same way. As an example of our reporting, at the beginning of the NFL season, the Chiefs held a moment of silence for Lisa Lopez Galván, one of the people killed in the parade shooting. But there is no memorial to the 24 people who were shot and survived, and they noticed that.

Their lives were forever changed by the same event. Some have not been able to return to work or have lost their jobs. Some people are still physically recovering eight months later. All are still recovering mentally. It can lead to a feeling of being forgotten. But these people have a lot to share and a lot of insight into life and one of the great challenges of our time.

How did you approach the subject matter of the series?

Row: With empathy, patience, and an open mind. I don’t know what they’re going through. So my job is to listen to what is said and what is not said. The injured have invited us into this space, considering their homes, their hearts, and the reactions of their children, and we must treat this space with the respect and respect it deserves. I did.

sable smith: First we called them and explained what we were doing, that our project was long-term, and why we thought it was important and powerful. Since then, we’ve decided to spend a lot of time with them on the phone and in person, hearing about their lives and how things are going. There is no particular story that we want to do. Instead, stories emerge through conversations with people. Certain patterns and common themes emerge from our conversations with survivors, and that’s when we know we have a story to write.

What should a medical reporter know when reporting on whether a surgeon should remove or leave a bullet?

row: We were both surprised by the idea of ​​leaving a bullet in the body, but we thought it was interesting to see how each injured person deals with it in their own way. I think both of us, and probably most people, assume that the bullet will be removed. The main reason for that is because we see it so often in movies (usually done with a long knife and a shot of whiskey). So this was counter-intuitive and very interesting. It also helped that we were completely fascinated by Mrs. Holguin, 71, who said she had determined the bullet in her knee was her best friend’s “buddy.”

sable smith:It really depends on a case by case basis. It is important to remember that it is very difficult to extract the bullet, and there is often a risk of further damage to the person if you go inside and extract the bullet.

But what can sometimes get lost is the patient’s wishes. Having a bullet inside you is a constant reminder of the intense trauma you experienced, which can be difficult to endure emotionally, physically, and mentally.

I love that it puts the survivors at the center of each story, starting with the day of the parade and then working towards their recovery. How did you decide to write and record this story?

row: We wanted our readers and listeners to know not only what happened in the moment on February 14th, but also how the waves of that day continue to crash on shore. When KCUR first approached me about this, I was worried that the project idea was too vague. But now I know it was a gift from the editor. Bram and I were in daily contact with these people, sometimes through phone calls and text messages. Then Bram, who lives in St. Louis, came to Kansas City and we spent the weekend together with his family, enthusiastically. As we drove around the metro, Bram and I discussed what we heard, finding patterns in our experiences and offering stories that simply reflected what people were experiencing. Fortunately, our boss trusted us that way.

sable smith: We really want the stories to feel true to the survivors. That’s the perspective we’re trying to capture. Even though these people were all injured by the same event, each of them reacts differently in their own way. We want to reflect the similarities and differences because they reveal what it means to survive and recover from something like this.

I also appreciated the focus on both mental and physical recovery after a shooting, especially in the stories of children. But it’s hard both for the source and for you to listen and write about it. What trauma-informed practices have you used both in your reporting and in your own care?

sable smith: It was very important to give survivors agency, especially the ability to not talk to us about certain topics, or not to talk at all if they didn’t feel like it. But what we’ve noticed is that a lot of people really want to talk to us. Part of the reason is that some people feel their stories are being ignored. We spend a lot of time listening and checking in with the people we’re interviewing.

When it comes to taking care of yourself, it’s important for journalists to listen to how their bodies and emotions are responding by digging deeper into this type of reporting. Many of the survivors we speak to recognize this too and check in with us about their own self-care.